The outside of the courtyard suddenly fell silent, and countless eyes turned to Lord Xiao Fan with some fear, not knowing what was wrong with that student. Fan Xian glanced at the student who was carrying a mess of bedding, and suddenly asked, "Have you checked it?"

The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the officials of the Supervision Yuan reported at the same time: "It has been checked, and there is nothing unusual." ”

The student looked up at the young Fan with a calm face and no trace of panic. Fan Xian frowned slightly, and then asked, "I took off my clothes to check?"

"Yes, sir. The officials around him saw that there were more and more people blocking the gate of the courtyard, and they couldn't help but be a little anxious, in half an hour, the imperial decree in the palace was coming, and at this speed, it would be extremely difficult for the students to completely put it in.

At this moment, Fan Xian suddenly stood up from the Taishi chair, walked to the student with a calm face, looked at him twice, suddenly laughed, and said in his ear: "There is a problem with your clothes." ”

His voice was very small, so only the student heard it, and that student actually sweated a little on his forehead in the steep cold weather of early February! This student's surname was Yang Wanli, and he didn't know how this little Fan, who was famous all over the world for his poetry, discovered his secret, and under Fan's quiet gaze, he couldn't help but have some tendency to collapse.

Fan Xian suddenly smiled and said: "You go in, if you say it at this time, your ten years of hard work will be wasted, but remember, among these two examination institutes, you don't let me find out that you used your clothes." ”

Yang Wanli was pleasantly surprised, and then he was afraid that he couldn't stop it, and said with a sad face: "Master Xie is complete." For fear that this young middleman with two eyes like an eagle would regret it again, and as soon as he carried the tattered bedding, he hid his face and rushed into the examination hall, and made up his mind that he could not disassemble the clothes on his body and look at the mezzanine inside.

Immediately afterwards, Fan Xian told a few poor students who tried to bring a cheat sheet into the examination institute, and gradually, the officials around him also understood what was going on, although they were very surprised by Xiao Fan's eyesight and judgment, but they were also a little anxious, and they were afraid that they would be too late in time.

Fan Xian seemed to have made a feeling for the first time as an official, smiling and examining the students who entered the hospital one by one, carefully not letting go of any of them, picking off many pairs of shoes, many hats, and many brushes hiding paper balls behind the branches, and piling up a hill at the door of the examination institute. At this time, the students who were lining up knew that this year's Zhonglang turned out to be a murderous and powerful person, not at all like the poet and fairy saliva people imagined, and they would not pay much attention to the fraud of their own people, so they hurriedly retreated and threw the things they were carrying into the yīn ditch behind the examination institute.

The leader of the Supervision Yuan today is Fan Xian's acquaintance, Master Mu Tiemu, who is currently temporarily taking over part of the office. He listened to the report of his subordinates, hurried here, and saw that Fan Xian had gone down for a big week without saying a word, and said with some embarrassment: "My lord, the hour is not early, you have to hurry." ”

The officials of the Ministry of Rites and the people in the Supervision Yuan next to him couldn't help but be startled when they saw him so respectful to Fan Xian, thinking that the people of the Supervision Yuan would be so polite to a civil servant, and only then did they think of the background behind Fan Xian, a prime minister, a scholar, and a county lord, so they didn't dare to say more, just quietly listened to Fan Xian's reply.

Fan Xian took out the imported pocket watch and looked at it, and found that the time was indeed not early, so he shook his head and stopped this interesting game, stood up to his side, and said loudly to the hundreds of students at the entrance of the examination institute: "This official Fan Xian, I think you have also heard of it." Everyone saw it before, so as not to delay the time of the trial, today rì will not take off and search his body. ”

All beings rejoiced.

Fan Xian looked around with a smile and said, "You yourself threw the things you carried into this bamboo basket, you are not to blame, if you are discovered by this official during these two exams, beware that I will let you strip you naked and throw them in front of the imperial city, so that everyone in the world knows what your Sven looks like." ”

The sentient beings were terrified, and then they knew that the smile of the poet fairy Xiaofan turned out to contain a murderous aura. So everyone went into their own way, and as for whether there were any students who wanted to take risks, that was a matter of time.

After a while, the entrance of the examination hall immediately returned to quiet, leaving only stinky shoes and countless confetti, which looked a little sad. The officials of the Ministry of Rites hurriedly arranged for people to clean up to meet the will of the palace for the examination, and also arranged the incense case to fire cannons, and they were busy for a while.

While everyone was busy, they thought that this little Fan was really acting very different from ordinary Qingguo officials, if they didn't pay attention to those entrainment things, how could there be a reason to let students enter the exam after they were found out today? If this matter is spread on other examiners, I am afraid that there will be a lot of disturbance from the Yushitai, but who knows that since Fan Xian dares to do this, of course he is not afraid of these things.

Fan Xian sat on the Taishi chair, smiling and watching everyone busy, while talking to Mu Tie beside him. Mu Tie's current position has risen early, and he has always thought that it was due to Fan Xian, so he seemed to be particularly affectionate to Lord Fan, and said: "Lord Fan has worked hard, stay for a while, after the cannon starts the exam, please go back to the courtyard to rest, this matter that should be investigated and defended will naturally be handled by the lower officials." ”

Fan Xian glanced at him with a smile and said, "Where is the job, I have to wander around the examination room for a while, where is there any spare work." ”

"It's the first time for an adult to receive this messenger, so I don't know, but in fact, when I enter the examination room, I don't need to be too careful. Mu Tie thought that this young magnate didn't know the unspoken rules of the test, and said with a smile.

Fan Xian suddenly turned to ask in a low voice, "This time I went to Northern Qi, will Master Mu go?"

Mu Tie was stunned for a moment, and he was not mentally prepared for his transfer, and subconsciously replied: "The courtyard is still arranging, but it should be the affairs of the four places, and I may not be able to interfere." He suddenly rolled his eyes, thinking that this little Fan could write poetry but didn't like to write poetry, and he liked to do some small business, thinking that he had guessed something, and said with a smile: "Is Master Fan going to buy any goods in the north? ”

Fan Xian laughed and said, "It's okay, it's okay, just ask casually." A subordinate next to him brought tea, and Fan Xian gave way to Mu Tie. Mu Tie asked curiously, "Master Fan, it seems that you are in a good mood today." ”

The corners of Fan Xian's lips curled slightly, and a trace of inexplicable expression flashed in his pupils, as if he was smiling, and he didn't know what he remembered, so he said softly after a while: "Actually...... I always thought that reading books without exams was the greatest pleasure in life. After entering Beijing, what I was most afraid of was to take the exam, but I didn't expect that in a year, I would become a middleman, able to read, without exams, and more relaxed to watch the hard exams of my colleagues who read, it turned out that this is the greatest joy of life. ”

――――――――――――――――――――――― the holy decree arrived, the chūn cannon fired, the incense case was withdrawn, the courtyard door was closed, and the annual Qingguo chūn 闱會會 officially kicked off. Fan Xian listened to the heavy wooden door of the examination institute slowly closing behind him, and his heart was suddenly stupefied, he had not participated in the college entrance examination in his previous life, and he thought it was the biggest regret in his life at that time.

"Meet your lordship. Entering the lobby, the early cold wind of chūn surged up from the door, Fan Xian saluted Guo Youzhi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites who was sitting in the middle, and said: "The door of the courtyard has been closed, and it must not be opened again without an adult's warrant. ”

Guo Youzhi looked at the young five-grade official below, looked at his handsome face, frowned imperceptibly, and then said with a smile on his face: "Lord Xiao Fan has worked hard. Then he instructed the two masters beside him: "According to the rules of previous years, after an hour, you will go out and make an inspection. ”

One of these two teachers was Taixuezheng, and the other was a bachelor of Tongwen Pavilion, both of whom were hand-picked by His Majesty, listening to Guo Shangshu's words, he nodded and responded: "Listen to the arrangement of the adults." ”

Guo Youzhi turned to Fan Xian again and said: "Little Fan, your job is to order the examination room, assist the two of you in promotion, patrol the venue from time to time, and pay attention to the movement at the corner gate, ready to receive orders at any time." ”

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu sighed, hugged his fist to the sky and saluted: "Chūn's test, choose good materials for the country, don't be careless, you adults should be careful with each other." ”

With Guo Shangshu's speech, all the officials in the examination institute returned to their duties, and a strict and tense atmosphere quietly permeated every corner of the examination academy. Everyone knows that the current emperor has shifted the focus of governing the country to Wenzhi after several Northern Expeditions, so he attaches great importance to the annual examination, and even a few years ago, there was a precedent of micro-service inspection, so no one dared to be careless.

And this time chūn 闱 for those students who are burying the case and writing the first illness, it is the most critical juncture in life, if you can follow the lì pass guò, that is to jump on the dragon gate, if not, you can only return to your hometown gloomily, prepare for the next year's township test, turn and return, I don't know how many people's youth will be consumed, and there are such stubborn people, once they fall behind, they are lingering in Beijing and refuse to return to their hometowns, there are those who are decadent, there are wanderers, and more disappear without a trace.

This is the great ceremony of the country, and this is the life and death of the scholar.

Fan Xian stood on the top of the stone steps, closed his eyes and listened to the rustling sound in all directions in the examination courtyard, thinking of the note handed by the prince, a strange smile appeared on the corner of his lips.